A Promise to You, Sunshine
by Eeveeleah
Summary: AU Guardian Signs story. Directly after the battle on the Sky Fortress, the consequences of being the Hero of Oblivia reborn are revealed. "But the Hero's not one to imitate! 'Cause you could meet a dismal fate!"


**Um... hi. *waves* So here's an AU story for ya, where the battle against Mewtwo and Ed and Purple Eyes doesn't have the best outcome. Yeees I know I should be working on other stories but after seeing a heartwrenching post on Tumblr and listening to some PKMN Mystery Dungeon music I stumbled across, I couldn't help it. So here this is. **

**And let it be known this is my second time attempting to write an angsty/tragedy story, so it may not be the bets and let me know how it was! May or may not write another chapter. Also, the quote in the summary is from Latios/Latias' Forbidden Song you can find in a quest after the game's done, but I just had to use it anyways (sorry, the whole song couldn't fit in the description, but those are the lines I wanted to focus on). **

**disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon (Ranger), hope you enjoy.**

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><p>"Ben... nononoNONONO <em>BEN!<em>" Summer shrieked, watching her partner crumple to the ground under a pile of stone.

They had just finished the battle against Mewtwo, twice, and Ben had called upon Ho-oh to stop the huge fortress from submerging all of Oblivia. They had practically clung to each other the entire time until when they hit the water, and the whole place shook violently. As a result, Ben was ripped from her grasp, and nearly fell off the wall; fortunately he managed to stumble into a pillar and hold onto that, but that pillar just happened to have too many cracks in it...

The Ranger sprinted over to her partner, panic clear in her eyes. No, she couldn't watch her partner, best friend, and non-biological brother die, not after he took the blow for her in the sky when they first encountered Red Eyes.

Not after she thought he died the first time.

Summer practically ripped off the black-colored rubble from on top of him, scrapping her fingers and bare knees in the process, but she didn't care; she could be about to lose a member of her family. She didn't feel anything but pure _terror_, and determination to save him as he did for her various times.

Finally, when his unmoving form was unburied enough, she flipped him over from his stomach to back, and Summer's stomach lurched and she resisted the urge to throw up. She had seen some pretty bad injuries before, but one her partner was devastating. Various cuts and bruises were randomly placed all over him, and there was a large gash on his forehead, but that wasn't the worst part. Blood was seeping from the right side of his torso, rapidly forming a large puddle of the dark liquid and was quickly staining his white and ripped shirt with the color - too quickly.

"No, no, no," she muttered under her breath, beginning to shake. This was bad. Very, very bad. "Come on Ben, don't do this-"

"Summer?"

The aforementioned girl's head jerked up to look at Ben's face. His voice was raspy, and she barely heard it, but he had said it and was breathing, his grayish blue eyes opened just a sliver.

"Ben," she whispered, moving to support his head on her lap, Ranger training instinctively kicking in. "Come on Ben, we got to get you somewhere safe, you're..."

The girl's voice cracked as Ben shook his head slightly. "Summer, you know it's too late."

Her heart did a few backflips. He was just giving up?! Not now! Her brave, strategic, plan-making, calm-headed "there's always gonna be way" brother was giving up now?!

"Come on, Ben," she insisted, becoming a bit more frantic, hurt and fear in her eyes. "You _can't _stop now! Too many people are depending on you! _We're _depending on you! You can get through this, for everyone, _for_..." For me.

His eyes opened a bit more to look at her more clearly. "S-Summer... you know that I'm not getting out of this."

... it was true.

The moment Summer saw that pillar collapse, she knew. She knew her partner would be gone, no way around it. She knew those wounds were far too large, and no amount of hospital work could heal him now, there wouldn't even be enough time to get him to one.

But he couldn't give up.

_She _refused to give up.

He couldn't...

"Benny... don't die on me... please..."

His eyes flared for a moment as she used her nickname for him, the one he was most tolerant of. "Sunshine... I'm sorry."

Summer's breath hitched. The nickname _he _called her whenever he was teasing her, whenever they were safe, and Summer knew at that moment there was _nothing _she could do to save him, nothing she could do to stop her partner from dying right in front of her, right in her arms. She began to shake, but no tears fell.

She took a deep breath to steady herself and began to say something when Ben cut her off, eyes pleading and using most of his strength to reach his hand up and brush it against one of hers. "Please... don't."

Summer sniffled slightly and nodded her head slightly, giving his hand a squeeze. She understood. He just wanted to have this one last moment with her, not talking, just being in each others' presence, like they used to do so many times back in Ranger School and then any time they could relax.

This one last time he could be with her.

After about 10 minutes of silence, Ben suddenly started coughing and convulsing, blood coming up from his throat. Summer let out a cross between a whimper and a yelp and moved to lean him up, going to his side and holding his in her arms. After a minute, Ben stopped, breathing much more shallow and labored.

Summer waited for him to do anything, say _anything _to reassure her he'd be fine, with that calming grin she knew so well; she was helpless to do anything else. He did do something, but he just slightly angled his head towards her and murmured, "Sunshine, my only sunshine."

My only sunshine. The children's song he got that name from. He found her humming it under her breath one day and that was that. Actually, that one day was the first time they were properly introduced.

Summer cleared her throat, determined to give him one last something.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..."

Her voice broke again. Ben's eyes widened slightly. It was common knowledge Summer didn't sing often, only after at least a month of heckling. But when she did, she was the best singer around.

"You make me happy, when skies are gray..."

Ben's eyes flickered shut, his breathing becoming more and more slow.

"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you..."

The duo finished the last line together.

"... please don't take my sunshine away."

Silence.

Ben opened his eyes one more time and managed to get out, surprising Summer, "Please, smile for me one last time, Sunshine."

Summer didn't move. Then, very slowly, the smallest smile appeared on her face, as did the tears welling up in her dark green eyes. She couldn't do this, this wasn't happening. Not Ben, anyone but Ben!

His own eyes brightened, hand coming up to brush his best friend's jaw line very softly... then it fell onto his chest, which stopped moving. Eyelids closed for the last time, and he was still, never again to stand up with confidence, daring anybody who threatened his family or anything, for that matter, to go up against him.

Benjamin Jones was dead.

"No... _BEN!_"

And then Summer was sobbing. Sobbing hysterically over her dead limp brother's chest, tear drops hitting his face. She clutched at his shirt, like it would bring him back somehow if she just held on. NOnonono, she couldn't believe it. He couldn't be dead, _he couldn't be! _Memories flashed before her scrunched shut eyes; Ben and Summer meeting for the first time on campus, instantly becoming friends, running in the hallways, studying together, graduating and feeling joy too immense to describe when they got the news they were partners for life, being promoted to top Rangers, doing everything together...

...everything...

Promising each other they wouldn't die. That they'd get out alive of _every _mission they were sent on.

"Come on Ben, don't do this! YOU _PROMISED_ ME!" Summer's wails were directed to the sky.

"I remember that day! It was our first day as Rangers, we were stationed in Fiore, in Summertown! It was the afternoon, and we were sitting out by the docks! W-we were holding hands...and watching the sunset, I remember it was the most brilliant sunset we'd ever seen, and you turned to look at me with that grin on your face and you said, 'Looks like we're here at last!' Then you turned serious and took out a pocketknife and said to me, 'Summer, promise me something, and I'll promise you something.'"

Summer was gaining speed, shaking even harder.

"And then I replied, 'Yeah?' and you... you said that we should make a blood oath, to never die on any mission, to never leave each other! We did, we did with that blade, and you still have it somewhere back in your room at the Ranger Union, I know it's on the top of your dresser. And I warned you, you'd better not die on me. And you said back to me, with the truest smile I have _ever_ seen in my _entire life_..."

She...

She just...

Arceus, no. He just can't be.

"'That's a promise to you, Sunshine.'"

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><p><strong>... Yeah. Don't kill me?<strong>

**Review please!**


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